City roads get state funding

Published 10:36 pm Friday, June 21, 2013

Transportation projects in Suffolk will receive nearly $5.5 million in state Revenue Sharing Program dollars for intersection improvements throughout the city.

The Nansemond Parkway and Wilroy Road intersection will receive $800,000. City officials hope to create a right-turn lane from Nansemond Parkway to Wilroy Road to allow vehicles to turn right even when the intersection is blocked by a train.

The College Drive and Harbour View Boulevard intersection will receive $1 million. Chuckatuck village improvements will be funded to the tune of $750,000.

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In addition, the Route 58 bypass and Godwin Boulevard interchange will get $500,000 for improvements, and drainage improvements on Pruden Boulevard will get $425,000.

The largest allocation of funding for Suffolk comes to the Kenyon Road connector, which will create a new road from Kenyon Road across from Paul D. Camp Community College to Holland Road, providing a bypass for truck traffic, especially that associated with the CenterPoint development. The project is expected to cost $7.7 million, and the state’s allocation provides $2 million.

The only Suffolk request that did not get funded was $425,000 for additional drainage improvements in various locations throughout the city.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved allocating the matching funds, which totaled nearly $155 million statewide. Gov. Bob McDonnell made the announcement Friday. The funding pushes nearly $560 million worth of transportation projects forward.

“Small towns to large urban areas are able to leverage state dollars to make critical transportation improvements in their communities, such as rebuilding roads and bridges, widening roads, installing new traffic signals and repaving roads,” said Governor McDonnell. “The Revenue Sharing Program allows localities and the state to work together to invest transportation dollars where they are needed most.”